Lassa fever patient dies in Kogi

The Lassa fever patient in Kogi State, Aisha Jimoh, who was confirmed to have contracted the dreaded disease, has passed on.

Authorities of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Lokoja, had on September 3, suspected that Aisha might have been suffering from Lassa fever and had, consequently, referred her to the General Hospital, Irua, Edo State for confirmation test and treatment.

The management of the FMC in Lokoja disclosed that it had discovered a female patient with Lassa fever.

Its Head of Clinical Services (HCS), Jones Taiwo, who disclosed this to journalists, said the female patient had been transferred to the Irrua Specialist Hospital for further test to confirm the disease.

He, however, said clinical tests carried out on the patient at the FMC showed symptoms of Lassa fever.

Consequently, the Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Saka Audu, confirmed that Aisha had tested positive to Lassa fever.

A brother to the deceased, Asipita Jimoh, explained that Aisha, 18, died in the early hours of Monday at the Irua General Hospital, where she was being treated.

Asipita said his family was contacted on the development, shortly after Aisha, a student of the Muslim Community Secondary School, Lokoja, gave up the ghost.

Asipita, who spoke to at his family house at Gadumo Layout in Lokoja, said Aisha’s sickness started about five days earlier.

He said that the lady was taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja from where she was transferred to the General Hospital in Edo.

“We lost our parents about two years ago and we have lost our sister again,” Asipita lamented.